Famous Last Words (Part 1)

It occurred on the night of August 13th. A summer night filled with the sounds of crickets and tree frogs. The windows were difficult to open and close because of the humidity. The window A/C unit hummed away in the living room, unfortunately, the cold air did not make its way to the opposite side of the one-story home. Jocelyn and Julian would sleep with their box fans. They blew wildly during those nights but barely kept the sweat from rising on their skin as the humid nights of Florida summers continued with no reprieve.

Behind their expansive backyard, the coarse St. Augustine grass led its way to an easement that separated an orange grove and the community they lived in. Beyond that was something different. Something everyone in the suburban community was aware of but didn’t mention.

It wasn’t a haunted house or a location where someone was murdered. It was a prison.

The prison housed several hundred inmates at a time. Many were held there in between sentencing and future court dates. The locals, for many years, believed it better to not talk about the prison.

An elderly neighbor, Edna Shields was quoted, when asked about how the prison. “We all believed it was better to be locked up in the county’s broom closet than make a fuss over. Even small prisons have a way of preventing people from coming through, even just for visiting family or friends.”

Edna did have a solid argument. Local prisons always carry a stigma for the nearest area they are located. Some people are terrified of even thinking of being close to a prison, while others say it’s the safest place to be.

It was the late comedian George Carlin who more or less said, if someone was to escape from prison, the last place they’d hang around was anywhere near it.

Jocelyn hardly knew anything about it. After all she was very young and what would be the purpose of getting a little girl nervous about something that would never happen.

Famous last words.

Several months prior, Joseph Gilmanson was arrested for the murder of his wife and 3 children who were only 14, 9, and 2 at the time.

The two oldest children, Erica, 14, and Joseph Jr. were found first suffocated with a pillow. Afterward they were each shot in the head while the pillow was still placed on their faces. Detectives on the scene declared it is not uncommon for a murderer to perform this kind of act. In a crime of passion, or, as in this case, the murder of your own family, this final move eliminates any possibility of the person suddenly waking up, if in fact, the victim was not actually already deceased.

The youngest, Bethany was the first of the family to go. Sadly she was found with her throat slit open. Slight bruises found on her cheeks were thought to be from Joseph’s hands attempting to cover her cries from being heard by the other family members sleeping in their bedrooms down the hall.

Alice “Allie” Gilmanson was located in the family’s basement. Her left and right ankle were both broken. The left was broken several hours after the right according to the coroner’s unit. She was left hanging from the floor joists. Gilmanson let his wife hang there in agony, attempting to hold herself up with those broken ankles, eventually succumbing to the rope that slowly suffocated her once she could no longer hold her own body's weight on the busted legs.

Joseph Gilmanson was found in the town of Millville, roughly 25 miles away from the family home. A patron of Demott’s Pub, found Gilmanson laying naked in one of the bathroom stalls.

Percy Chismar, the man who found him was quoted in a follow up interview about finding Gilmanson.

“He was covered in blood. His hands were clenched in fists so tight, they looked like the bone was trying to break through at the knuckles. I’ll never forget the face that turned and saw me. No sir, not for as long as I live. The mans face was grey, like all the blood and color was sucked away. His hair was also full of something wet and sticky, blood as well I suppose. His eyes though, they’re what stand out the most. They looked at me, pupils so wide, they almost looked black, like a demon. They were sunk deep into his cheeks. Dark circles below made it look like that mascara stuff women use to pretty themselves up was smeared all over. But it was his eyes. It was his skin. He said only two words. Killed and family. I had not idea what that meant, but it didn’t sound good so I ran out the bathroom as quick as I could, slammed a barstool up against the knob, you know, so he couldn’t get out. Then, I yelled over to Gus and Roger to come help me hold the door shut and call Sherrif Womack.”

Since then Joseph Gilmanson has been through several prison cells. Numerous attempts on his life inside caused more and more delays. The entire time he claimed it wasn’t him, although he was found with his entire family’s DNA stuck to his body after lab results.

The evidence was there, had been the entire time, but Gilmanson swore he could never kill his family. He claimed there was something else, something evil and malevolent that has followed him in the shadows his entire life.

Of course, there wasn’t a single person, including the jury or the judge that believed a word of it. Nobody in their right mind, no matter how biased they may feel about a man that brutally murdered his family, was willing to believe that a curse or some kind of monster killed the man’s family. It was all something evil and concocted in Gilmanson’s twisted brain.

Several years after the incident, a jury member who requested to remain anonymous said: “The only monster in that room was that evil man. Joseph Gilmanson was a liar, a murderer. He was not the loving family man his attorney tried to make him appear.”

Problems began however when many began to worry that Gilmason’s defense could possibly make a strong case for insanity instead of getting the death penalty. In an attempt to prevent this from happening, further court dates were pushed back for several months during an ongoing and elaborate mental evaluation.

It was during that time, attempts were made on Gilmanson’s life, only prolonging his sentencing and trial further and further away.

Gilmanson, who was now awaiting sentencing the following week escaped on August 13th 1985.

To Be Continued

This is part 1 of this story, PART 2 can be found here. If you're enjoying it so far, please let me know below. Thanks so much for reading so far, I really appreciate it.

CONTINUE TO PART 2